The Vintage Chophouse - Just One of The Calgary Restaurants In Which Ames Has A Stake

Somewhat surprisingly, given his profession, the eating establishments are not themed around Ames’ golf career. Then again, given his low key manner, maybe it’s not so surprising. Rather, they stand on their own and while he has ties to the eateries as a spokesman/owner, he doesn’t flaunt his PGA successes within their walls.

“No themes whatsoever,” he stated.

“These are all themes Lance has come up with. I’m there from the PR standpoint. I do a lot of entertaining there; I do a lot of media work out of there. Both Jodi and I enjoy going out in the evening and going to a fine restaurant. We go to the Redwater Grille a lot too. They’ve got good quality food and the kids enjoy going there.”

While Ames enjoys talking food, he enjoys the labours of his life off-course as much. In his life away from earning a living he has undertaken the duty of promoting golf both in two countries close to his heart, largely through a golfing/cultural exchange for youth from both countries named in his honour.

Ames Speaking At The Ames Cup

He is the official spokesman for the Canadian Junior Golf Association (CJGA) and he’s tied into that as the host of the Stephen Ames Cup, a Ryder Cup-style event featuring young players from his birthplace of Trinidad and Tobago and his present home, Canada.

In 2009, for the first time the event was hosted in Calgary, after having been played in Ontario the previous summers it has been in this country.

“The Stephen Ames Cup came about as a way of giving back to both countries through junior golf,” the event’s host (along with RBC) explained. “A foundation was formed and we run the monies through the foundation, obviously, to get the kids to the tournaments. It’s a Ryder Cup format; you get 10 to 12 kids, it’s been 10 kids the last couple of years to represent their country and what we do is alternate between the two countries.

By Gord Montgomery

About the writer: Gord Montgomery is the sports editor of two weekly newspapers in the Edmonton area and is a member of the Golf Journalists Association of Canada. He has written for Inside Golf for the past four years with the majority of his coverage in north and central Alberta. He can be reached at noraltagolf@gmail.com.